CRE resumes the legal deadlines and terms after the suspension of deadlines due to COVID-19

By Santamarina Steta

Executive Summary:

Después de estar casi tres años en suspensión las actividades de plazos y términos de la Comisión Reguladora de Energía debido a la pandemia provocada por la pandemia derivada del Covid-19, estas se reanudan.
A resumption of terms is proposed in an orderly and staggered manner as of March 1, 2023.
The resumption will be carried out in different stages and progressively to guarantee the continuity of administrative processes and procedures, as well as compliance with the obligations and responsibilities of the CRE and users of the energy sector.

Agreement A/001/2021, published on January 18, 2021, established the suspension of legal deadlines and terms of the Energy Regulatory Commission (“CRE”) as a way to prevent and combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This measure was adopted to avoid the concentration of people and reduce the risk of contagion of the virus among CRE employees and the general population. However, this measure affected all procedures, paperwork, and actions before the CRE.

Consequently, on February 28, 2023, the CRE published Agreement A/004/2023 (“the Agreement”) in the Official Gazette of the Federation (“DOF”). The Agreement establishes the resumption of the legal deadlines and terms, which were suspended as a way to prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19. A resumption of terms is proposed in an orderly and staggered manner as of March 1, 2023.

La reanudación de los plazos y términos legales se realizará en diferentes etapas y de manera progresiva, con el objeto de garantizar la continuidad de los procesos y trámites administrativos, así como el cumplimiento de las obligaciones y responsabilidades de la CRE y de los usuarios del sector energético.

The Contract establishes that in the case of applications in progress that were submitted before the entry into force of this agreement, they will be followed up according to the order of priority that will be published by category on the official website of the Regulatory Commission for Energy (CRE): www.cre.gob.mx.

On the other hand, the requests that are presented after the entry into force of this agreement will be dealt with based on the number of the procedure page that is assigned to them through the following link https://ope.cre.gob.mx/It is important to note that the Agreement limits one request monthly per natural person or legal entity. This limitation, in addition to being a violation of the rights of the permit holders and with which the CRE goes beyond the provisions provided by the Law in this matter, generates legal uncertainty for all regulated subjects, particularly for those legal entities with more than one permit.

En relación con los folios que se asignen para la atención de trámites, estos estarán disponibles para los interesados cinco días hábiles antes del mes correspondiente, excepto para marzo de 2023, cuando estarán disponibles durante sus primeros cinco días hábiles.

The assignment of the pages will be made as follows:

50 folios por mes con relación a la materia de hidrocarburos.
15 folios por mes en cuanto a la materia de electricidad.
120 folios mensuales para pre-registros.

The assignment of said folios represents significant risks for the culmination of some obligations derived from their permits since they are limited to a single application per legal entity.

It is worth mentioning that, in the Agreement, the CRE foresees that to comply with what it establishes, it is required to carry out actions with the available human, material, and financial resources that allow it to attend simultaneously, in an orderly and staggered manner, both the usual operation of such agency and the pending matters generated by the suspension of deadlines, according to the priority, considering the public interest, the principle of first in time first in law, the general principles of law, non unduly discriminatory treatment and attention by what is humanly possible. However, at no time does it consider the negative consequences that the provisions provided for by the folio granting system will represent for permit holders who have more than one permit

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